3 March 2023 was day 1 of the first-ever Inland Navigation Week held in Brussels. During the event, one of the most pressing objectives for IWT was covered: how to green the fleet. Greening the fleet can not be done without innovative technologies, of which there are plenty.

More than 150 participants, European-wide, registered for the event, physically in Brussels and online. In the opening video message, Mr Hololei, Director General of DG-MOVE, stressed the importance of the topic once more.

During the morning session, the differences between the different alternative energy sources were explained, followed by a presentation of the Port of Antwerp Bruges showing how they will supply these fuels; the multi-fuel port.

The EU-funded projects Needs, RH2iwer and Synergetics, all looking at the same topic but from a different angles, explained their objectives. It’s clear we’ll have new green examples very soon presented with the for example 6 demonstrative hydrogen fuel cell vessels from RH2iwer.

The morning sessions were meant as an opening for exploring the possibilities of joint purchasing of a number of technologies. This exercise was completed within the context of the ENTRANCE project!

Several suppliers of IWT1 in four different pillars took the stage and pitched their product portfolio. The four pillars: BIOFUELS, STAGE V, AFTER TREATMENT and BATTERIES, were picked because these are applicable today and achieve a huge impact on emission reduction.

The stage was not given with the intention to actively sell, but to explain in how far their offer contributes to reducing emissions to zero. The audience was then requested to express their degree of interest in the different technologies. The result of the exercise was all of the technologies raised the same level of response. The next steps will be to mobilize the interested parties and come to joint purchasing.